The PPC
by DeathWok
Summary: After the defeat of Voldemort, Harry is enjoying his life as a Seeker for Puddlemere United. He runs into Tonks, who is using her abilities as a Metamorphmagus to live life more or less as a teenage Auror. AU as of HBP. ON HOLD, NOT BEING UPDATED.
1. chap 1

A/N: Think I might be into Harry Potter romances? This is the second one I'm starting in two weeks. I promise I'll update both at least once a week though.

This takes place one year after Harry graduates from Hogwarts, so he's 19. Voldemort has been defeated and Harry is Seeker for Puddlemere United. Parts that are in italics are in Harry's journal. Pleaser R&R!

Also, I don't own anything. (That was a disclaimer.)

As the sun set over London, business in Diagon Alley started to pick up. Groups of teens chatted happily while they window shopped, old witches bent over extra-long shopping lists, and four or five young couples walked contentedly down the cobbled street. It being the summer, Florean Fortescue was doing a roaring trade. Small tables under pink and white umbrellas overflowed onto the street, all of them full.

The only exception was the table in the back corner. Only one person sat there. He was tall and slim, holding his head in his hand as he scribbled into a leather-bound journal. A bowl of strawberry ice cream sat slowly melting next to him.

"Harry?"

Harry Potter looked up from his writing. Standing over him was a tanned girl with green hair and matching eyes. She was carrying a couple shopping bags, and looked around seventeen. Harry didn't recognize her. He sighed. The whole 'adoring fan' thing was getting kinda old.

"Yeah," he answered. "That's me."

The girl grinned at him. "Wotcher, Harry. You're taller."

"…Do I know you?"

"Not very well, but yes. I'm Tonks. D'you remember me?"

"Oh!" Harry smiled up at her. It was true that he didn't know her very well, but he liked what he knew. He waved at the chair across from him. "Of course I remember you. Sit down. I thought you were in Australia?"

Tonks sat down happily, dumping her bags under the table and pulling Harry's melty ice cream over to her. "I was, but I haven't had a vacation in years, and stuff was under control. So the Ministry agreed to transfer me back here. I'm taking two year's worth of vacation now. Pretty fun." She took a bite of the ice cream. "And you're playing for Puddlemere United, right? Having a good time?"

"Yeah…" He was spacing out a little. Tonks looked even younger than when Harry had known her. It was odd. Harry shook his head slightly, focusing on the conversation. "Yeah, I'm Seeker. It's great – Oliver Wood, my old team captain from Hogwarts, is Keeper. It's awesome to be playing with him again."

"That's great." She glanced at her watch. "Oh, shit…I'm late. I'll see you around, okay?" She collected her bags and stood up.

"Alright, I'll see you. Oh, hey…" on impulse, he reached into the messenger bag sitting next to his chair and pulled out what seemed to be a necklace with a large, square pendant. "We've got a game against the Holyhead Harpies coming up. On Saturday. If you want to come…there's a party after the game too, no matter who wins. Just show that to someone who looks official and they'll point you in the right direction." He handed it to Tonks. She looked down at the pendant. It said 'Puddlemere v. Holyhead, All Access'.

"Awesome! I'll see you on Saturday." She kissed him on the cheek and ran off, leaving him staring after her.

_I saw Tonks for the first time in years today. She hasn't changed a bit. If anything, she looks even younger than when I knew her. I was trying to figure out how old she must be…she had just gotten out of Auror training when I was in my fifth year. Auror training takes two years, I think, so four years older than me. She's twenty-three at least. It's so strange. She looked younger than I did. I know that she can change her appearence and everything, but why would she still want to look like a teenager? Maybe she was undercover._

_I invited her to the game on Saturday. Gave her an all access pass so she can come to the after-game party. It'll be fun to hang out with her for a bit. Speaking of which, those two redheads from the Harpies said they'd spend the night with me again if they lost. So I'm going to have to play really well._

_Mmm, I'm tired. Time for some shut eye._


	2. chap 2

A/N: Thanks for the reviews. I agree that my first chapter was a bit short. This one is a bit above 1,600 words, so I hope that makes up for it.

For those of you that don't know - in England, the equivalent of giving someone the finger is holding up a peace sign with the back of your hand to the person. You can say 'fck you' just by turning around the peace sign! Who knew! (yes, that's relevant.) Also, the Holyhead Harpies are traditionally all women. If you didn't know that, I suggest reading Quidditch Through the Ages...it's quite funny. And very useful for fanfics.

"And it's the Harpies in the lead, seventy-sixty...Jones has got the quaffle...Leigh...Jones...Thirman...Leigh...and Leigh scores! Eighty-sixty, Holyhead Harpies winning! Better pick it up, Puddlemere...you're getting beaten by girls..."

Saturday had dawned bright and cool for the summer. There was a bit of a breeze and not much cloud cover, but the overall flying conditions were good. Harry had been up at the crack of dawn to do a 'snitch overload' practice, as the team captain Dennis Fife called them. Catching twenty snitches that had all been released together was not an easy task, but Harry was getting better. He'd only taken forty seven minutes that morning. It left him feeling confident and pleased as he searched for the snitch during the game.

Jenny Thirman flew by, giving Harry a self-assured wave. Harry frowned as he watched her rejoin the other chasers, her long red curls flying behind her.

"Nice save by Wood...and what's this? Killian seems to have spotted something...Jones scores, its ninety-sixty..."

At the other end of the pitch, the Harpies seeker Perna Killian was racing towards Harry and downwards. He scanned the area she seemed to be aiming for, and spotted it...the snitch was about seventy feet below him. Harry went into a fast dive, gaining speed as he dropped.

"...they must see the snitch, both seekers are going at a breakneck pace...if they don't watch themselves, they might actually break their necks...watch it, Potter!"

Harry was going to make it there first, he could tell. He hurtled down, catching the snitch neatly and pulling up just in time to keep from being flattened on the ground. The crowd roared as he did a victory lap, holding the struggling snitch up above him. As he passed Thirman and Killian, they both held up two fingers amiably, the backs of their hands facing him.

"Well, I should hope so," he said, pausing in between the two redheads. "A deal's a deal, ladies. See you at the party, eh?"

Down in the stands, Tonks cheered as Harry won the game for Puddlemere United. It had been very exciting. Tonks hadn't been to a quidditch game since she'd been in Australia. She patiently filed out of her row, then said goodbye to the friends she'd come with and stopped to talk to the man who had told her where her seat was.

"Hullo again, Jimmy...I'm looking for the after game party, d'you know where it is?" She showed him the all access pass Harry had given her, and he raised his eyebrows.

"Yeh got a pass, eh? 'Spect we'll be seeing yeh agin then - "

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, it's good for th' whole season, in't? Changes fer every game. Yeh din't know that? 'Spect we'll _really_ be seein' yeh agin then, a player musta given it to yeh, and that don't happen often. Anyways, go down these stairs fer three landings, then jest show this pass to the guy at th' door to the left. There's a fireplace in there, an' some floo powder...he'll tell yeh where to go."

She thanked him and hurried off, giddy at the discovery that she had an all access pass to all the remaining games (and parties) in the season. At the door, the man gave her a packet of Floo powder and told her to go to the 'Player's Mansion'. Tonks took the packet and entered the room, amazed that she hadn't known about any of this before. She'd heard about the after game parties from her gossip magazines, of course – Quidditch players were notoriously horny, and the parties seemed to be meant for realization of their wet dreams - but she hadn't known there was an actual _mansion_ just for them.

In the room, Tonks had to wait in line behind a couple of guys in suits and a chaser for Puddlemere. She glanced at herself in the mirror next to the fireplace while she waited. She had decided on blonde hair and blue eyes, a thin face and a slightly larger than average chest. She was wearing jeans and short white tshirt, with a bikini on underneath. One never knew, after all. Finally, she stepped into the flames, shouted "Player's Mansion!" and went spinning off.

Harry was sprawled over a large red couch. It was one of three that faced a wall of fireplaces, through which people were coming at an almost alarming rate. He kept an eye out for Tonks while talking to Jenny and Perna. Jenny was sitting cross-legged with Harry's head in her lap, while Perna leaned over the back of the couch.

"It's no good watching for her if she's a metamorphmagus," Perna said knowingly. "You probably won't recognize her. Besides, it's not like you haven't got company already." She winked down at him.

"Yeah, but I'd like to talk to her anyhow. She'd probably be totally lost if she came in here without knowing anyone, or knowing what these parties are like. Can you imagine if some rich Quidditch fan tried to bed her? She'd never forgive me."

"Ooooh," taunted Jenny. "Potter's got a crush. And he hasn't even seen her naked!" The girls laughed.

"Oh come on. You two are such nymphs. You'd probably rape me or something if I didn't make a sex bet with you before a game. Oh hey...I think that's her..." He sat up, looking at a girl with blue hair that had just come through the middle fireplace. "Look, I'm going to hang around with her for a while, okay? Can you guys keep Ron company? You don't have to sleep with him or anything." They nodded happily, skipping over to Ron, who was playing chess with a girl Harry didn't know. Watching the two Harpies pull Ron out his chair, he had the feeling that Ron was in for a fun night, regardless of what Harry told Jenny and Perna they had to do.

He stood up and made his way over to the blue-haired girl, who had started talking to the manager of Puddlemere United. He was about to tap her on the shoulder when he felt his own shoulder tapped, and turned around to find a pretty blonde behind him.

"Wotcher, Harry." She said, and Harry recognized her as Tonks. "Rockin' party. This place is amazing."

"Isn't it?" Harry took her by the arm and guided her out of the room, towards the patio. He picked up a couple drinks from a bar on the way, and handed her one. "It was built as a copy of a house a Muggle guy has. It's not exactly the same, of course, but it's still pretty close."

"Which Muggle guy?"

"Hugh Hefner. Have you ever heard of him? He started a famous porno magazine." They stepped out onto the patio. "He lives with a bunch of hot blondes – seven, I think – in a place like this. Except his is called Playboy Mansion, because Playboy is the magazine he started."

Tonks giggled, watching what she could see of the people in the Grotto. "And here I thought the rumors about after-game parties couldn't be true. The whole house is designed around sex?"

"Yeah, pretty much. But it's not like that's all that happens here. Quidditch players in the UK can come here if they want to get away from reporters, or if they get kicked out of their house, or if they want a cool place to bring their date, whatever. If this house is full, there's two more, one in Ireland and one in Wales. There's also a buffet inside, if you want something to eat," he said as Tonks' stomach rumbled.

"That'd be great. But later I have _got_ to check that out." She pointed at the Grotto as they walked back inside. Harry laughed and slung his arm around her waist, steering her towards the dining room.

_The party last night was great. Tonks loved it, which was nice. We danced, and made out in the Grotto. She's amazing. We didn't have sex, of course. I wouldn't do that. It was only our second time seeing each other in years, after all. I think she would've if I'd asked though. I considered asking. Totally insane. That's what happens at those parties. Everyone gets a bit randy._

_I found out that she's twenty-two. She got skipped a year in school. She says she hates the idea of growing up, that she wants to stay a teenager until the day she dies. She only acts her age on the job. She could get away with that too, since she can change how she looks. It can't be healthy. But it does mean I don't have to worry about her being older than me._

_In other news, Ron has made good 'friends' with Jenny and Perna. I think they're still at the mansion. Good thing he doesn't start work until the end of the summer. Who knows when they'll leave? I might have to go get him out of there when the term starts._

A/N: So, what do you think? You can definitely tell that Harry is living the rockstar life.

Reviews are greatly appreciated! I'd especially like to know if you thought I did the Quidditch well.


	3. chap 3

A/N: I feel so loved! Thank you so much to my reviewers. You guys are awesome.

Bluehorse – I do believe that's the best review I've ever gotten. Thank you so much. I'm glad you liked the Quidditch, I was quite concerned that I hadn't gotten it right.

MasterDeath – really? Heh. I can't believe I didn't know that. Well, thank you for telling me. In that case it's their second year out of school. It doesn't really matter that much to the plot. And I agree that my chapters are too short, but I just can't seem to make them longer without screwing them up...xx

Heaven'sReaper – I know, I know...::smacks self:: I'm thinking of putting City Of Flowers on hold, or even deleting it, until I finish The PPC. Don't worry about updates on this, though. I've gotten the next five chapters written already.

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_I'm twenty today. Not sure if that's good or bad. I don't really care either way, at the moment. Although presents are always good. I woke up today to a nice pile in the living room. I haven't opened them all yet, since I have to go to the Weasley's pretty soon. But so far I've gotten a set of books on the history of UK quidditch teams from Hermione, a Blasting Wands band poster from Ron, and a wall mounted broom rack from Dumbledore._

_I expect there'll be some sort of birthday celebration waiting for me when I get to the Burrow. Of course, they said it was just an early dinner to celebrate Hermione getting promoted. But Hermione didn't tell me she got promoted, so I doubt that's the real reason._

_I wonder if Tonks will be there. I've been talking to her a lot in the last couple weeks. Apparently she's a huge Quidditch fan, and has posters of nearly every player up on her wall. It's a bit disturbing to think of a poster of me on her wall. She says I'm in her kitchen.

* * *

_

Laughter and the sounds of excited chatter drifted through the windows of the Burrow as Harry Apparated onto the lawn with a pop. A second later, there was only shushings, and then silence. Harry grinned. Walking up to the door, he pretended he didn't know anything was going on, and knocked softly.

"Hullo?" He called when no one answered, suppressing a smile and opening the door.

"SURPRISE!" Shouted more people than Harry had thought could fit into the house, jumping out from behind couches, doorways, tables, and in the case of Dobby, even a lamp. Harry grinned and laughed as he was showered with 'happy birthday's and 'congratulations's. Someone handed him a drink, someone turned on some music, and someone else pushed him out into the backyard, where there were tons more people and a lot of food. Hermione and Ron greeted him at the back door.

"Happy birthday, Harry!" She gave him a huge hug, then held him back and looked him up and down. "Do you feel the same now that you're not a teenager any more?"

"Yeah, pretty much. How's work going? Did you manage to get that wand bill to Fudge?"

"No, of course not. I can't understand why people are so stupid. Goblins have just as much right to wands as - "

"Yeah, yeah, we know and agree and support what you're doing. I'm just glad you gave it up with spew." Ron interrupted her and pulled Harry aside. "Hey, thanks for recommending me to Jenny and Perna. They're gorgeous."

"I owed you one, for introducing me to that professor in training...Michelle? That's it. I still say you should ask Hermione out though."

"Are you kidding? It would be like going out with Ginny." But he looked pleased that Harry thought so. "Oh, come over here, you've got to meet this guy...he says he can get us VIP tickets to the next Blasting Wands concert...and _why_ don't you have a butterbeer?"

An hour or so later, Harry was a bit tipsy and still hadn't talked to everyone at the party. Hermione and Ron grabbed him and brought him over to a large table in the living room that was nearly covered with a huge chocolate cake. Candles on the top spelled out 'Happy 20th Harry!' He laughed, blew out the candles, and started dishing up cake for people.

Finally he flopped onto the couch with two pieces of cake for himself, letting Mrs.Weasley finish serving the cake. It took him a couple seconds to realize that he had never met the black-haired girl next to him. He held out a hand.

"Harry Potter. And you are...?"

The girl grinned. "Wotcher, Harry." Harry smiled, recognizing Tonks. She took his hand, using it to pull him forward, and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "So you're not a teenager anymore, huh? Poor boy."

"I don't mind at all, actually." He took a bite of cake. "Mmm. Mrs.Weasley, you make the best cake ever."

"Thank you, dear," called Mrs.Weasley from somewhere in the room. Tonks frowned.

"What do you mean you don't mind? Now you've got to be responsible and all that shit." She waved a hand, as if dismissing the idea that Harry wouldn't mind being a twenty-year-old. Someone deposited a piece of cake into the hand, and she nodded her thanks at them. Harry shrugged.

"Well, it's not like I'm a different person. I've already got responsibilities, and that's fine." Tonks took a huge bite of cake and muttered something that included 'better than sex'. "I mean, you've got tons more responsibilities than I do, and you still have fun."

"Yeah, but I enjoy my job. And I'd still be sixteen, if I had the choice. You know that."

"I enjoy my job too. But you know what your problem is?" Tonks shook her head, unable to speak around a mouthful of cake. "You've got a Peter Pan complex. You never want to grow up. But eventually something, or someone, is going to make you."

Tonks raised an eyebrow and swallowed her cake. "Who's Peter? And what the hell do pans have to do with anything?"

Harry laughed and glanced across the room, to where Ron was calling him. "I'll have to explain later." He stood up, and then bent back down to take Tonks' plate from her. He paused when he was on level with her. Her eyes were green today, he noticed – in fact, her hair and eye color nearly matched his own. "Hogsmeade, tomorrow night?" He said the words quietly, meaning them for her ears only.

She smiled at him softly, happy that he had finally asked her on a real date. "Of course. I'll meet you at the Shrieking Shack. At seven."

Harry nodded, pleased, and walked off to find Ron and a place to dump the dishes.

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A/N: Another short chapter. xx

Please review! Reviews are my drug...muahahaha....


	4. chap 4

A/N: Okay, here's a nice long chapter for all my adoring fans. Ha. Ha. Ha. Seriously though, this one is twice as long as any of my others. Probably because it's about a date, and I'm supposed to be writing a romance. No journal entry in this one though.

Again, thank you guys so much for reviewing. You rock my socks.

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The weather was starting to turn colder. It was practically impossible to see the sun through the blanket of cloud. On the ground was a bit of mud and a few puddles, evidence that it had been drizzling that morning. If anyone had been able to see the sun, they would've seen it setting, earlier and earlier in the day as the summer marched on towards fall.

None of this concerned Harry. What worried him was that he hadn't been able to get flowers or anything for Tonks. He glanced at his watch as he jogged through the narrow Hogsmeade streets. Seven-oh-five. Oh well, no time to buy them now. It was his own fault that he'd taken so long in the shower. He'd just have to make it up to her.

His messenger bag bounced painfully against his side as he jogged. Along with his journal and money, his favorite sweatshirt was stowed away inside, another mark of the coming autumn. He was wearing slightly baggy jeans, a plain leather belt, and a t-shirt with a small picture of a snitch on it. He wasn't quite sure why he was going to the Shrieking Shack on foot. He could Apparate there, and probably should, seeing as he was running late. Remembering his lateness, he quit jogging and entered a full-out sprint. It just seemed right this way.

Tonks came into view a few moments later. Her hair was green, and up in a simple ponytail. She was gazing up at the Shrieking Shack, her back to him, seemingly oblivious to Harry having entered the other end of the clearing. He stopped quickly and tried to be quiet – Tonks seemed as if she was deep in thought, and he didn't want to disturb her. Instead, he just studied her. She could've passed for a Muggle high school student easily. She wore a black sweatshirt with a hood, her hands thrust deep into its pockets, and a short black and green skirt. The breeze blew it slightly to the side for a moment, and Tonks lowered her head, as if she were looking as the ground. Harry shifted slightly, and Tonks cocked her head to the side quickly, as if listening.

"Hey Tonks," said Harry quietly. He still felt as if he were intruding on something.

She turned around. For a moment, she looked infinitely sad and exhausted. Then he could've sworn it had only been his imagination as she grinned at him. He studied her for a moment before going over and putting an arm around her shoulders.

"You okay?" Harry asked her. "Because if you aren't, I want to work it out now, so we can have fun tonight."

"You're such a worrywart, Harry." Tonks made a face at him. "If I'm annoyed about anything, it's that you didn't bring me flowers."

Harry considered her again for a moment. She looked defiantly back. Finally he grinned. "Alright. Let's go, you can pick something out to make up for the flowers."

Tonks laughed happily. "Yay!" Harry shook his head, smiling. You'd think she was six, not twenty-two.

They walked down the main street chatting, Harry's arm around Tonks and her snuggled up against him. It was true that they'd gotten pretty close over the last month or so, just talking, but nothing other than that and Tonks' greeting kiss at his birthday party had happened since they were at Player's Mansion. Harry was pleasantly surprised that Tonks was so comfortable with him. 'As if this is our hundredth date, not our first,' thought Harry as he looked down at the woman next to him. At the moment she was gazing off at the shops they were passing, trying to decide which one she wanted to go to. Apparently deciding, she broke away from Harry, catching his hand as it fell from her shoulder and pulling him into Honeydukes.

Harry inhaled the sugary air deeply, not releasing Tonks' hand as they entered the store. He hadn't been here in a while, and looked around. It hadn't changed much, except that there were tons of new products. He smiled, looking at chocolate radios that would actually play 'Transfigure' by the Weird Sisters whenever you wanted until they were eaten, 'O.W.L. lollipops' which were shaped like owl heads and packed with caffeine (20% discount for fifth years! proclaimed a sign next to them) and gummy wands, which were like trick wands except you could eat them after they changed. He was looking for a Blasting Wands chocolate radio for Ron when Tonks found what she wanted – a bouquet of every-flavor lollipops made by Bertie Botts. Harry smiled and paid for it, giving Tonks the bag. She promptly took out a lollipop.

"Mmm, lemon meringue," she said happily. She offered it to Harry, who shook his head. There was something very sexy about watching her have a lollipop.

"Don't want to ruin my dinner. And I'm having too much fun watching you eat it." Tonks laughed and slapped his arm lightly. Harry grinned and put his arm around her waist, steering her towards the street again.

After a couple minutes of comfortable silence and walking, Tonks had finished her candy and snuggled in against Harry again. He looked down at her.

"Ready for some real food?" She nodded, and they slipped into the Three Broomsticks. Madame Rosmerta seated them in the small dining room off the main area, gave them menus, and said she'd be back in a few minutes.

"So what's 'Peter Pan'?" Asked Tonks as she scanned the menu. Harry laughed.

"You remembered! Well, Peter Pan is a guy from a Muggle fairy tale. He lived in this place called Neverland with his friends, where they did stuff like fight pirates, and stayed kids forever. He said he didn't want to grow up because then he wouldn't be able to have adventures any more."

Tonks had stopped scanning her menu, and was listening interestedly to Harry as he talked. Harry hoped that it was a good interest.

"One day he left Neverland because his shadow ran away from him-"

"His shadow ran away from him?" asked Tonks, arching an eyebrow.

"I told you, it's a Muggle fairy tale. They think stuff like that happens to people who have magic. Anyway, his shadow ran away, and it was at the house of this girl called Wendy. He accidentally woke her up when he was trying to get his shadow to obey him again. Wendy helped him out by sewing the shadow to his shoes, and as a reward Peter brought her and her little brothers to Neverland for a while."

"As a reward?"

Madame Rosmerta came back and took their orders and their menus, interrupting them for a minute.

"Yeah. Kids loved it because it was full of adventures and fun stuff to do. So he brought Wendy and her brothers with him, and they had a big adventure. At the end of it, Peter had fallen in love with Wendy – except that he was like 11 and didn't really understand it – and all his friends liked her a lot too. They all decided to go back to the real world with her and grow up, but Peter wouldn't do it." Harry paused and looked at Tonks to make sure she was still listening. She was. "That's what I'm talking about when I say you have a Peter Pan complex. Peter wouldn't grow up, even though all his friends were, and his girl was. He just wanted to have fun, but he was going to end up hurt in the end."

"You think I'm like Peter Pan?" Tonks looked genuinely surprised. "Because I'd rather be a kid than an adult?"

"Yes, I do. Look," he said quickly, noticing that Tonks looked a bit hurt, "I'm not saying it's a bad thing. In fact, I like it a lot. I'm just saying be careful, because it could have bad consequences." She still looked a little upset. Harry sighed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you."

Tonks looked up at him, and their eyes locked. Harry was amazed at how beautiful they were...blue today, but they had flecks of silver in them, and looked like water. And there was something in there...she didn't look like she was mad at Harry, or even hurt, but she obviously wasn't happy. Harry shook himself mentally as Tonks looked away again. This was not the time to be obsessing over her eyes.

"You didn't offend me. In fact, it explains a lot...thank you." Harry was still skeptical, but Madame Rosmerta brought in their food just then, and it seemed that the conversation was over.

After dinner, which had gone very well after the food came, Harry and Tonks walked out of the Three Broomsticks holding hands. They walked around for a while, digesting, and Harry bought them a bar of Honeydukes chocolate to share for dessert. After a while they found themselves back at the clearing in front of the Shrieking Shack. Harry stopped walking and pulled Tonks into him, locking his hands behind her back. Tonks smiled, snuggling up against Harry's chest, delighted at the feel of the muscles there. She closed her eyes, savoring the feeling of warmth, strength, and peace Harry was radiating. Harry bent his head forward, kissing the top of her head lightly, and closed his eyes as well. It was amazing, he reflected – here they were, first date, embracing as if they'd been together forever. He would've expected them to be doing just about anything else right now; just talking, or maybe kissing, but not this. It was a very pleasant surprise.

After a while, he asked "Do you want to go to Leviose?"

Tonks laughed lightly. So much for peace. Leviose was one of the most popular, and definitely the hippest, nightclubs in London. It was run by one of the Weird Sisters, Lindsay Vachel, and was notoriously hard to get into. "Sounds great."

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Three hours later, Harry and Tonks could be found making their way off the dance floor in the main room of Leviose, covered in sweat. They had each requested their favorite music, and as the manager was eager to please her best customer and his date, they didn't hear a single song they didn't like. Best of all, they were all great songs to dance to.

Tonks led the way to the bar, which was nearly full. She pushed Harry into the one seat that was open and hopped onto his lap sideways, slinging her arms around his neck. Harry raised an eyebrow as Tonks giggled.

"What's so funny?" He was scanning the room, looking for someone. Finally spotting a man in black robes and shades standing against the wall, Harry gestured for him to come over.

"Well, I can sure tell you enjoyed the dancing." Tonks laughed again. Harry forced himself to scowl at her, but then smiled.

"You're the one who jumped into my lap." The bartender nodded at them, silently greeting Harry and asking what they wanted. "The usual for me, and...Tonks, what would you like?"

"Just a butterbeer, please." She turned back to Harry and started to say something, then glanced behind him and scowled. "Something we can do for you?"

Harry looked over his shoulder just in time to catch the man in black robes raising his eyebrows. He laughed. "Tonks, it's okay. Meet Vince. He's my bodyguard. I thought it'd be a good idea to introduce you, before you noticed him and thought we were being stalked."

Tonks just stared at Harry, wide-eyed. "You have a _bodyguard_? I would think you could take care of yourself." She shook her head slightly, and then held a hand up over Harry's shoulder. "Hey Vince, I'm Tonks."

"Very pleased to meet you, Miss Tonks," said Vince, shaking her hand. His voice was deep and didn't sound especially pleased. He bent down and whispered something in Harry's ear.

"It's fine, Vince. She's twenty-two. Now, please go ask Lindsay to hold a fireplace for us." Vince nodded quickly and walked off.

"What's fine, and who's Lindsay?" demanded Tonks as the bartender gave them their drinks. Harry threw back a shot of something green and fizzy, and followed it quickly with a sip from a mug full of clear red stuff.

"Vince thought you were underage, and Lindsay is the manager." He closed his eyes and let a breath out slowly. Tonks felt his grip on her waist loosen slightly and wondered what he was drinking, surprised that she had never seen it before. She shook her head and took a swig of her butterbeer.

"You're talking about Lindsay Vachel? From the Weird Sisters? And you're making requests of her? Geez. You're such a star."

"Well, I should be able to make requests of her, seeing as I pay this place enough to buy myself a new broom on a monthly basis." He opened his eyes and took another sip from his mug. When he put it down, he found Tonks gazing at him seriously. They locked eyes, and Harry felt himself amazed at her eyes for a second time. He told her so, and she smiled.

Harry wanted badly to lean forward and kiss her, but he had the feeling that the crowded bar was not the best place for romance. Instead, he closed his eyes as Tonks put her head on his shoulder, reminded again of how quickly they had become comfortable with each other.

"I'm tired," said Tonks quietly into his neck. Harry nodded.

"Me too." He picked her up and set her on her feet gently. Taking her hand, he led Tonks towards a small staircase at the back of the room, looking around for Vince. The man appeared beside him almost instantly.

"There is a fireplace waiting in the Blue room. Lindsay sends her compliments, and a copy of the CD they're releasing next month." Vince handed him the slim plastic case. Harry grinned. Lindsay had told him they were going to try and break the Muggle market, and here was the proof.

Vince cast a calculating look at Tonks, who was looking at someone behind them and obviously not paying any attention. "Should I go ahead of you and tell Dobby to get your room ready for two?"

Harry shook his head. "No, no. None of that. Do go ahead though. Take this," he handed Vince the CD, "and ask Dobby to put it with the others in the study."

Vince nodded and hurried off ahead. Harry looked back at Tonks as they made it to the stairs. She looked exhausted and a bit sad again. He frowned, and pulled her into a hug.

"Are you sure you're doing alright?" He nuzzled her neck, but kept himself from kissing it.

"Yes, I'm fine. I'm very happy, actually. Just tired." Tonks rested her head on his shoulder again, then pulled away and looked up the staircase. "What's up there?"

"A bunch of rooms for VIPs who decide they want to spend the night, or who need a fireplace."

Tonks grinned as they started up the stairs. "We're VIPs. Sweet." Harry laughed and pointed to the right as they got to the top of the stairs. The hallway was black, with about twenty different colored doors, all with black doorknobs, going off of it. They walked down to the right for a while, until they got to the blue door, which Harry opened with a bow for Tonks.

"Wow," she said, looking around. "We have _got_ to come back here sometime." Everything in the room was either blue or black. There was a canopy bed with a bright blue comforter, and a gauzy black curtain surrounded it. The carpet was zig-zagged blue and black, and the bright blue walls were covered in artful photographs of castles at night.

"You should see the Red room." Harry grabbed Tonks and brought her over to the huge obsidian fireplace. He picked up two small packets from a basket next to it, one black, one blue, and held the blue one up in front of Tonks. She recognized it as a floo powder packet.

Tonks took the sachet from Harry and put her arms around his neck. He pulled her in the rest of the way, locking his hands around her waist. Looking down at her, Harry was amazed at how connected and protective he already felt. He gave her a soft, chaste kiss on the forehead, and then moved southward, finding her lips.

As far as Harry was concerned, it was their first kiss – what happened at the Player's Mansion, stayed there. Although he didn't ask Tonks, he had the feeling that she thought the same thing. So he took his time, pressing his lips to hers briefly and gently at first, but soon becoming more passionate and deepening the kiss. Tonks responded quickly, pushing herself against him, playing with the hair at the back of his neck with one hand while the other felt for his shoulder blades. Harry ran his hands up and down her back, putting one under her shirt a bit and stroking the small of her back lightly with his thumb. Tonks shivered at his touch, and Harry smiled slightly to himself.

Finally Harry broke away. "Tonks...it was great. I hope you had as much fun tonight as I did. I think we should go now, though, or we're going to end up spending the night here."

Tonks laughed quietly, taking her arms off of Harry's shoulders. "I had just as much fun as you tonight, if not more." She smiled at him. "It was wonderful." She put her hands on his face and pulled him in for one last, lingering kiss, then turned towards the fireplace and opened the floo powder.

"Bye Harry," she said, looking at him over her shoulder and winking. Then she threw the powder on the fire, shouted her address, and was gone.

Harry touched his lips, trying to remember the last time they had felt like that when he kissed a girl. He could still feel his pulse in them. He smiled, savoring the lingering taste of sugar and mint that Tonks had left him with, and then threw his own powder onto the fire and went home.


	5. chap 5

A/N: Eeew, school started...I've had this chapter written since the summer and haven't had a spare second to put it up. xx But homework is letting up a bit now, so I'm going to be writing tons.

Bit of plot development here...actually, this is where it gets into the real plot, which, now that I've worked out all the kinks in it, has almost nothing to do with the Peter Pan Complex. So...does anyone have some suggestions for a different title?

-------

Tonks stepped out of the fireplace into her bedroom, smiling. It had been ages since she'd been on a real date, and Harry had done an excellent job of making her see what she was missing. He was a good kisser, too. She pressed a finger to her lips, remembering the feel of Harry's mouth and sighing happily.

But it had been a long day, and Tonks was incredibly tired. She dropped her sweatshirt on the floor and fell into her bed, falling asleep almost immediately.

--------

The next morning, Tonks was up bright and early. She wiggled into her jeans and threw on a Puddlemere United shirt, grabbed her broom and Quidditch pass, and stopped in front of the mirror for a minute, deciding on light blue hair and green eyes. She put her hair up in a pair of spiky pigtails on her way out, rushing so that she wouldn't be late to Harry's game...and stopped short the moment she entered the living room.

"Jonathon Michael Lenning," Tonks said loudly and annoyedly, "you had better not have been there all night."

The man on the couch woke up with a start, looking at her blearily and running a hand over his unshaven face. Then he got up quickly and tried to give her a hug.

"Thank god! Where were you last night? I was panicked. Couldn't you have left a note or something?"

Tonks pushed away from him angrily. "I was on a _date, _Jon. Stop acting like you're my mother or something."

"Who-"

Tonks held up a hand, refusing to be interrupted. "Why should I leave a note for someone who doesn't live here anymore? I got home at a normal hour, not that it's any of your business. And I am not pleased to wake up this morning and find out my ex-boyfriend camped out on my couch."

Jon frowned. "Don't call me that."

Tonks sighed annoyedly, counting to five in her head before saying anything. "Would you get it through your fat head that that's what you _are_, Jon? Stop showing up here, stop inviting me out, stop giving me presents, stop asking why I don't want to be around you! You're such a guilt-tripper. I couldn't believe it when you sent me flowers last night. Right before a date! I felt horrible."

Jon shook his head. "I didn't know. Tonks, give me a chance. You don't know what you're doing. If I give you more space, will you stop being mad at me?"

"No!" Tonks yelled, fists clenched. She took a deep breath, and glanced down at her watch. "Shit. Now I'll have to Apparate. I hate that." She leaned her broom against the wall and slipped her pass on, then turned to Jon, who was looking at the all-access pass she was wearing. "You. Out. Now." She turned him around and pushed him towards the door.

"Wait – where are you going? What's around your neck?"

Tonks opened the door and pushed him out into the hall, then held up her pass for him to look at. "This is an all-access pass for the Quidditch season. My boyfriend gave it to me. I'm going to see him play against the Wimbourne Wasps."

Tonks slammed the door in his face, then slumped against the closed entrance, putting a hand over her face. She probably shouldn't have called Harry her boyfriend, she reflected – but she needed to make a point. Jon had never respected her when they were going out, and hadn't respected her decision to break up with him. Tonks knew that she should be mad at him. Part of her was. But another part of her whispered to listen to him, that there had been good times with him, that he wanted to protect her and love her.

'Protect me and love me and treat me like a retard,' she thought angrily, straightening up and looking through the peephole. Jon was walking quietly towards the stairs, his shoulders slumped. Tonks sighed and Apparated with a small pop.

-----------

Harry groaned as Puddlemere was scored on for the seventeenth time in the half-hour game. The Puddlemere chasers were putting up a good fight, but the Wasps were still winning by ninety points - and the dreary weather wasn't helping. Harry looked around for Fred Stoller, the Wasps Seeker. Spotting the young Mohawked man hovering around, Harry decided that neither of them were having much luck.

He watched as Stoller circled the stadium slowly. When they were only a few yards apart, Stoller went into a fast dive. Harry followed reflexively, squinting against the wind and drizzle for the glint of gold that must be there. He was getting closer to the ground, closer...

Just as he was about to crash into the ground, Harry spotted the snitch a few yards to the left. He cast a quick glance over at Stoller, who had already pulled up, and had his hand outstretched...Harry plowed into the ground with a dull thud.

-----

_Augh...we lost to the Wasps. My fault. Stoller has a new move, some variation of the Wronski Feint. He's very proud of it, but it makes _my_ ribs hurt. The loss doesn't really matter much though. We should still make it to the World Cup. It's just annoying because I went barreling into the ground full blast with Tonks in the Top Box. My ego hurts more than my ribs. _

_I talked to her at the after-game party. No snogging or anything, which was a little disappointing, but I can live with it. She was upset because her ex-boyfriend is practically stalking her. He sounds like a real asshole. I offered to send Vince over, but she said no. She did like the idea of spelling the locks, though. I'm going to go over tomorrow with Dobby. _


	6. chap 6

Harry glanced again at the address written on his hand, then at the numbers on the building in front of him. The building itself was pretty nondescript – one of the three or four co-ops at the end of Diagon Alley, it was made of a gray stone and had leaded glass windows. Flowerboxes were outside a few of them. Harry turned his attention to the small darkened mirror next to the door.

"Miss Nymphadora Tonks," he said clearly. Dobby, standing next to him, muttered something. Harry glanced down at him. The house elf was looking at the doorknob from all different angles and tapping his large nose thoughtfully. "No, Dobby, that's not the lock we're supposed-"

"Hello?" Tonks' voice floated out of the now lightened mirror. Harry looked into it and saw not his reflection, but that of a young woman he assumed was Tonks. A _very_ young woman he assumed was Tonks. He had never seen that face on her before. "Oh! Hi Harry. Is Dobby there too?"

"Good morning!" Called Dobby.

"Okay, great. Come on up, I'm on the twenty-third floor. The door has my name on it." The door buzzed, and Dobby moved quickly to open it before it locked again.

"You're on _which_ floor?" Startled, Harry looked back up at the visible front of the building. He could only see three or four floors worth of windows. He turned to the mirror to ask Tonks what the hell was going on, but it had already darkened again. He sighed. "Craziness. We had better not have to walk up all those stairs."

------------

Tonks sighed as the mirror next to her door darkened, running a hand through her fire-engine red hair. The walk upstairs would take them a good ten or twenty minutes, so she had time to straighten up a bit. She frowned at the mirror, and her hair got longer, shinier, thicker.

Just as she was starting to clean up the living room, a knock sounded on the door. "What the fu-" Tonks slapped her forehead. "Oh, right. Professional athlete." She stuffed all the junk into a closet and made her way back to the door. Yanking it open – it tended to stick – she grinned at the guy and elf standing on the other side.

"Wotcher, Harry. Hey Dobby. I haven't finished cleaning - I had hoped the stairs would've delayed you a bit longer." She gestured for them to come in.

Looking around the apartment and trying to catch his breath, Harry said "Well, they were a nice workout. Now I don't have to go running today." He stepped into the tiny kitchen, which was right off the front hall. Striking a 'thinker' pose, he looked thoughtfully at something on the wall. Tonks left Dobby to the door, which he was examining happily, and joined Harry in the kitchen.

"You have good taste," said Harry, putting an arm around Tonks' waist and pointing at the Puddlemere poster of him next to her fridge. Tonks laughed and pulled him in for a kiss. Harry gave her a quick, unenthusiastic peck. She frowned.

"What's wrong?" Harry gazed somewhere over her shoulder and made a vague noise. Tonks put her hands on his face, making him look at her. "Harry. What's you...um...adjust yourself a bit?" He looked uncomfortable. "You look twelve. I feel like a pedophile."

"Oh." She closed her eyes and concentrated for a minute. Harry shivered, feeling her shape change against him. Oh, the possibilities...When he felt her stop changing, he looked down at her, and smiled, seeing the blonde from the first game Tonks had come to.

"Better?"

"Much, much better."

"Good. Now do I get a kiss?" Harry smiled. Putting a hand on her cheek, he kissed Tonks gently on the lips. She sighed happily and leaned her head against his chest. "Be careful. That does weird things to my knees."

Harry laughed and looked around the apartment. It was pretty small, and he could see most of it from where they were standing in the miniscule kitchen. There was a very small dining room type of thing between the kitchen and the living room, and a hall going off to the right where he supposed the bedroom and bathroom were. Resisting the urge to go check out her bedroom, Harry walked through to the living room and looked out the open window. It faced an alley. A large black fire escape was attached to it. A few voices drifted in from outside, but Harry couldn't see anyone in the alley. He looked quizzically at Tonks.

"People hang out on their fire escapes when it gets hot. You should see it on Saturday nights – everyone comes out to shares gossip and beer." She paused for a minute, listening to the voices outside. "Hey, that's Jen! C'mon, you should meet her. She's great."

Before he knew what was happening, Tonks had grabbed Harry's hand, dragged him out the window, and was pushing him up the fire escape stairs. He twisted, trying to get her to leave him alone before he tripped over the stairs. "Tonks, do you-" he stopped short when she stopped pushing him. They were a level up from Tonks' apartment. Sprawling on a couch which had probably had to be fitted into the small space with magic were a teenage girl and boy. They looked like they could be related, but glancing at how they were positioned, Harry fervently hoped they were a couple and not siblings. The girl smiled, untangled her hand from the boy's long hair, and waved happily.

"Hey Tonks! Who's this? Your new boyfriend?"

"I'm working on it," answered Tonks with a grin. "Jen, meet Harry. Harry, this is Jen. She rocks my socks. And that's Simon," she added as Simon glared at them, clearly pissed that he'd been interrupted. He mumbled something to Jen, his hand creeping up the back of her shirt. Jen rolled her eyes and elbowed him in the ribs. He shrugged and sat back.

Jen extended a hand. Harry shook it cautiously, trying not to think of where that hand had last been.

"Lemme get you something to drink." Jen got up, not waiting for an answer, and hopped through the window. Tonks followed Jen, Harry followed Tonks, and Simon followed Harry, grumbling. Jen opened the fridge and dug around as the others settled into chairs around the kitchen table. "So what brings you here, Harry? Other than Tonks? And would your last name happen to be Potter?" She came out of the refrigerator holding four butterbeers, knocked it closed with her butt, and set the drinks in front of them.

"Yeah, that's me." He carefully ignored Simon studying his forehead, watching instead as the teen removed the cap of his bottle with his teeth. Jen elbowed him again.

"You're such a showoff," she muttered, and nodded at Harry. "You were saying?"

Harry shrugged. "Just Tonks is enough to get me over here." Tonks grinned at him from across the table. "Well, Tonks and her damn stalker ex." Jen frowned, had a swallow of butterbeer, and glanced at Tonks.

Tonks just rolled her eyes at Harry. "Jealous much? He offered to lend me his bodyguard," she told Jen. "But I got him to just fix my locks so Jon can't come in."

Jen was frowning. "Maybe a bodyguard would be a good idea. You know he was snooping around in your mail this morning?" Tonks' jaw dropped. "He said something about needing a change of address form, but..."

"He already got one. I know. I gave it to him." She looked furious. Then she sighed. "That's no reason to have Vince around though."

"Vince?" Harry at first thought that someone new had come into the room, but then realized that it was the first time he had heard Simon's voice. He looked at the boy and was surprised to see that he looked genuinely concerned.

"My bodyguard." Simon nodded his understanding.

"You should do it, Tonks." He looked at her seriously. "That bastard really worries me."

"And if he worries Simon, whose friends, as we all know, are the scum of the earth...except me, of course..." Simon made a face at his girlfriend. "Who knows what Jon'll do. Promise me you'll at least consider taking Harry up on his offer? I don't want anything to happen to my best bud."

"This is ridiculous." Tonks stood up. "I'm not a little kid. Jesus Christ, Jen, I'm nearly five years older than you. I can take care of myself." She stormed across the room, went out the window, and stomped down the stairs. Harry gazed after her, worried. He stood up.

"I'd better get going."

"Alright." Jen started to clear away the bottles as Harry walked towards the door. "But Harry?"

He paused, his hand on the doorknob. Jen looked even more worried than Harry. He glanced over at Simon, who also seemed to be on edge.

"Take care of her, ok? You seem like a good guy, and I know for a fact that Tonks is one of the nicest people in the world. I meant what I said about her being my best friend-"

"And I think she's pretty great, too." Simon's voice was slightly muffled as he looked for something in the fridge.

"And if she gets hurt, I swear, heads will roll."

"I agree. I hadn't known this guy was so horrible, or I would've insisted that Vince go over."

Simon came out of the fridge, holding a bagel. "He's pretty bad. Personally, I think he was abusive."

Suddenly both Harry and Jen were furious.

"WHAT?!"

"SIMON! You don't go just saying stuff like that!" She kicked him. Simon winced.

"Alright, alright." Simon retreated to the living room with his bagel. "But I promise I'll beat him up for you if I see him hanging around," he started to go down the hall to the bedroom, and then stuck his head back out and grinned at Jen. "You coming?" He laughed as Jen launched one of the bottles at him, pulling back just in time.

Jen covered her face with her hand. "God. He is so fucking horny. But Harry, look. Simon doesn't mean the stuff about abuse. I would've killed Jon if I'd thought he was hitting Tonks." She turned to the sink and frowned at all the dishes in it. The thought occurred to Harry that it was bit odd for two teenagers to be living together on their own. "I'll see you around, Potter."

Harry opened the door and stepped out, disturbed. He'd have to ask Vince to find out about this Jonathon person. What had Tonks said his last name was? Lemmings?

Because he didn't doubt Jen when she said that Jon hadn't hit Tonks.

But there were other kinds of abuse.

------

_I don't know what to do. I'm really starting to get worried for Tonks. Apparently this ex of hers is an abusive asshole. Tonks got pissed at first when we were talking about sending over Vince, but I left her alone for a while, came back with some flowers, and apologized, and she got over it. We were talking and she said that Jon used to complain about how she was so immature and dumb. Made her feel like dirt. And now he's following her around and going through her mail._

_I asked Vince to go and check out Jon's background. Maybe I'll find something that'll convince Tonks to do something to protect herself. _

_One good thing about all this is that I met Simon and Jen. They seem like great kids, and even better friends. I know they'll tell me if anything weird happens. Although I can't figure out why they're living together anyway - Tonks said she was five years older than Jen, which means they're 17, maybe 18 for Simon. Weird. I'll have to ask Tonks._


	7. chap 7

_It's been nearly a month since I've seen Tonks; we've been talking a lot through a communication mirror I gave her, but life's too hectic too actually go anywhere. She started work again, and practices have been doubled – we've got a big match with the Prides coming up, and good old Captain Fife has decided we all need to learn some new moves. Oliver agrees with him, of course, and to be honest so do I, but it's really getting on my nerves. Usually I don't mind bringing home a Puddlemere fan or two, but now...it just feels strange, doing that and being pissed that I haven't seen Tonks in a while. The fact that I haven't had sex in nearly three weeks is pissing me off even more, though, so I think I'm going to have to go hit Leviose pretty soon._

-------------

"So, sound goods, right? You in?"

Simon sat in a corner booth at the Hog's Head, sipping a firewhiskey. The table in front of him was covered in empty glasses, two of which were his, and was almost as dingy as the three people he was sharing the booth with. He set his glass down on the table and squinted at the blueprint on the seat between him and a young man who smelled even more of smoke than the rest of the bar did.

"There's more fireplaces than this, I'm sure of it. At least 26." Simon tapped a large rectangle on the paper.

The greasy-haired woman who had spoken to him before frowned at him and held her hand out for the print. "Other than that, you in?"

Simon rolled it up and handed it to her. "Yeah, but you've gotta get that right. The Ministry's a _big_ break. I can give you maybe an hour, maybe a little more, but only if you've told me about every single entrance ahead of-" He paused, drink halfway to his lips, and stared out a grimy window. It was dark, and they were at the other end of the block, but Simon would swear he saw Tonks and Jon standing in an alleyway. They both looked furious. "What the hell..."

"What?" the woman twisted around, trying to see what he was looking at. "Aurors?"

"No, it's nothing. Just thought I saw someone I know." He drained the firewhiskey. "Look, just get that checked out. Your Ministry contact still good?" The woman nodded, brows furrowed. "Fine. Send me an owl when you've got an entrance count. I'll be in London. Take care."

Simon stood up, tossing a few Sickles on the table to pay for his drinks, and walked out quickly. He could almost feel the suspicious gazes of his 'partners in crime' boring into his back. Making such a rapid exit was anything but normal for Simon. _Hope I haven't blown my cover._

Jon and Tonks were still in the alley. Simon started jogging towards them. He could hear the pair yelling at each other from all the way down the block, and was grateful there weren't a whole lot of people around.

"What d'you mean by _commitment_, exactly? Making sure I stay inside and clean while you go out partying and come back drunk, horny, and violent? You're such an asshole, Jon! A lying, sexist, pathetic, obsessive, narcissistic, psychotic, spineless ass-"

After spending so much time with the scum of the earth there was no way Simon could miss the sound of strong fists slamming into a victim's body as it drifted down the street. Furious, Simon broke into a sprint, skidding to a stop just in time to catch Tonks as she fell away from the brick wall she'd been pinned against. Her jacket was lying ripped on the ground. There wasn't any blood visible, but she felt much, much too limp in his arms.

"Tonks..." Simon lowered his friend gently to the ground, and rounded on her attacker, furious.

Jon gazed, calm and coldly satisfied, at Tonks. Simon swung an angry fist at him. Jon started to laugh and disapparated just before Simon's fist made contact with his jaw. Simon howled in rage, frustration, and pain as his knuckles instead rammed into the alley wall.

--------

The first thing she noticed was that she was sweating more than she had for years. The second was that she couldn't sit up. Trying to remember where she was, Tonks groaned. She had been fighting with Jon...he had hit her...no wonder she felt so sore. She was probably still lying in the alley. But why the hell was she so hot? And why did the ground feel so soft?

She opened her eyes, then closed them again, confused and a little panicky. She was not, in fact, in the alley. She was in an extremely large bed with a black canopy. Under a foot or so of very heavy blankets. And she had no idea whose they were.

"Tonks?" Somewhere to her right, Jen was calling to her softly. _But Jen doesn't have a bed like this..._"I think she's still asleep, Harry. I promise I'll tell you when she wakes up."

_Oh. Harry._

"No, wait." She opened her eyes again, and struggled to sit up. "It's okay. I'm awake."

Jen poked her head into the room, looking surprised. Harry pushed past her, settled himself on the side of the bed, and busied himself pouring a glass of water from the pitcher on the bedside table. Tonks stretched to accept it – it was a _very_ large bed, and Harry was on the far side of it – and winced as pain shot through her ribs. Jon had beaten her up pretty badly.

"What happened?" Jen was sitting on the side closer to her, looking worried. "Simon tried to tell us, but he was pretty out of it."

"What? Jon didn't go after him too, did he? And where am I, exactly?"

"Grimmauld Place. The second floor guest room."

"Oh." She looked at her surroundings more carefully. The layout of the room did seem familiar, after a minute or so. She hadn't spent much time in this room before – it had been much too gloomy for her taste. Now, though, it was a nice room, decorated in black and white. "You've done a nice job redecorating."

"Thank Hermione. She took this place over for a few months after Sirius...after I inherited it."

At this point Simon walked in, wearing a bathrobe. Tonks quickly looked him over. He didn't seem to be hurt, just tired.

"Simon, Jon didn't go after you, did he?"

"No." He plopped into a large leather armchair, took a soda out of the pocket of his robe, and popped it open.

"Then why were you so 'out of it'?"

"You're heavy. I had to carry you around until someone let me use their fireplace. You can thank me later." He took a long gulp. "This stuff is great, Harry."

Harry looked amused. "Growing up with Muggles has its benefits. Soda is one of them. I can't believe wizards don't have it."

"Hey, you know what we could do? Start up a wizard soda company. I'll bet you could make big mon-"

"Alright, that's it." Jen grabbed Simon by the bathrobe belt, hauled him soda and all out of the chair, walked over to Harry, grabbed him by the shirt, and hauled him off the bed. "I'm trying to get the story out of her, and not waste her energy on stupid conversations, and you two are both being very stupid." She dragged them to the door, pushed them out, and shut it. "Stay out there until I tell you that you can come back."

"Aw, they can't help it, Jen. They're stupid by nature. It's the testosterone," contributed Tonks, who was lying down again.

"I heard that!" Harry's voice was muffled, but clear enough. Tonks and Jen giggled. Jen plopped down into the chair Simon had been sitting in. Tonks observed that she used almost exactly the same motion that her boyfriend had.

"So what happened?" All the humor was gone from Jen's eyes. Tonks sighed.

"I was doing some shopping. Jon, apparently, was doing some drinking. We ran into each other on the street, he called me a slut. It was all downhill from there. I called him an asshole-"

"No, you called him a lying, sexist, pathetic, obsessive, narcissistic, psychotic, spineless asshole. There's a difference," pointed out Simon from the hallway. It seemed that he and Harry were sitting outside the door so they could put in their two cents.

Jen chuckled. "Did you really?"

"Yeah. So he ripped off my jacket-"

"Your jacket? Why?"

"I keep my wand in it. And I'm a useless hand-to-hand fighter. So I was pretty much powerless. He pummeled me, and then Simon was there, and I passed out. I'm surprised I'm not feeling worse, actually. You did that, I suppose?" Jen nodded. "Thanks."

"No problem." Jen's tone was much more casual than her look was. "I'm going to get that bastard," she said quietly.

On the other side of the door, Harry snorted. "Not if I get him first!"

"I am impressed by the strength of your regard, both of you. All three of you, actually. And now, I really...need to go ...back ..." Tonks yawned. All of a sudden, she was incredibly sleepy. Jen's 'goodnight' fell on deaf ears – Tonks had already fallen asleep.

--------

Harry walked into his study slowly. It was his favorite room in the house – except for, on occasion, his bedroom – and anyone who knew him would be able to see why. Like all of Grimmauld place, it was nicely decorated, and held objects both magical and Muggle. A computer hummed quietly in a corner opposite from a large display case containing all sorts of dark detectors. Bookshelves lined the walls, and held some of Harry's favorites – Quidditch Through The Ages, The Hobbit, Restaurant at the End of the Universe, and of course Hogwarts, A History, which had proven to be very interesting once Hermione actually got him to read it.

But tonight, none of these things held very much interest to Harry. Instead, he walked to the far wall, where a few rows of small, ornately framed mirrors were hanging. He gazed moodily at an unframed one near the bottom for a moment, then shook his head sadly.

"Bet you'd be able to help me out with this." Harry sighed, and touched the black metal frame of one of the other mirrors. "Vince." The mirror darkened, then lightened again as Vince took his own mirror out of his pocket, and finally Harry was looking at the face of his bodyguard.

"Yes Harry?"

"Where are you? Anything yet?"

"I'm at the Ministry. Kingsley's giving me some help-"

Harry smiled. "Tell him I say hi."

"Will do. He's looking up Lenning's file at the moment, but when he gets back I should be able to figure out where to look for him." Vince paused, looking worried. "Are you planning on going anywhere today?"

"Probably not. If I do, I won't go anywhere crowded, dark, or likely to attract female Quidditch fans." Vince smiled. "But it doesn't matter where I go, it matters where you go. Keep me briefed, all right?"

"Of course."

The mirror went dark. Harry took it off the wall and slipped it into his pocket.


	8. chap 8

A/N: If this chapter seems a little awkwardly written, it's because it IS awkwardly written. I had just finished it when I lost my data stick…xx. Rewrites never turn out as well as the original, I think. It's a little shorter than it used to be, too…sorry.

I also want to thank DRACOSBALLDUSTER, who gave me my first flame. I feel like a true fanfiction writer now. (Also, while I take pride in being a dork, I'm really not that much of a moron. Promise.)

After three days spent mostly in the guest room of Grimmauld Place, Tonks was feeling much better. She had finally been able to get up and shower, do some paperwork her supervisor had sent her, and have one of Dobby's excellent meals. The only thing that was bugging her was that she didn't know where her clothes were. Sure, the overlarge 'Death Potion: UK tour' shirt and gray sweatpants she had been in when she woke up were comfy, but they weren't exactly the best fashion statement. Tonks _had_ been shopping before she'd been attacked, after all. There should be enough clothes to dress a small country around somewhere, if she could only find them. First, though, she had to find someone to ask, preferably Harry. She set off down the hall.

The first three rooms she checked were completely empty, and Tonks was surprised at how little she remembered about the house. Finally, in the room at the end of the hall, she found Harry. He was sitting tapping on something on his desk, and looking at a TV. Or she thought it was a TV. Even though Tonks' father was a Muggle, she'd never learned much about electronics.

Harry seemed a little out of it. He was slouching, something she hadn't seen him do in ages, and kept stopping what he was doing to pick up a little black-framed mirror and look into it. It looked a lot like the contact mirror he had given her. She wondered who had the other one.

Apparently Harry had heard her come in, because he swiveled his chair around and smiled at her. "Feeling better, Tonks?"

"Much. Are you doing okay? You seem a little…down." Harry shrugged. Tonks just looked at him for a few seconds, and then decided to ask him about it later. The thing on the desk had started to play music. She walked up to it and sat in the only chair she could find, which happened to have Harry in it as well.

"My, you are feeling better," he commented.

"I'm going to ignore that. So what is this thing, and how do I use it?"

"Well, it's kind of complicated, but…this is a computer. See, this is the keyboard, this is the monitor, this is the CPU-"

"What's that stand for?"

An hour later, Harry sat back, content to ignore the fact that his legs were falling asleep while Tonks played games online. She was a fast learner, and had already asked for an email account, although Harry wasn't sure just who she planned on emailing. But he wasn't really in the mood to think about that for a long time. He preferred to just relax and admire her neck. Harry had always had a thing for women's necks, and Tonks had such a nice one…he couldn't help himself. He swept her bubble-gum pink hair to the side and kissed her softly on the back of her neck. Tonks giggled.

"Harry, stop it. That tickles." He smiled. Continuing his trail of kisses up towards her jaw, Harry put an arm around Tonks and tickled her stomach. She laughed and squirmed, trying not to get blasted to bits in her game. "You're going to mess me up!"

Harry reached up and, without looking, pressed a few keys. Tonks' game disappeared. She blanched. "Hey, that's not fair! What would you do if I spoiled _your_ fun?"

"Oh no," murmured Harry, amused. "Please don't spoil my fun."

Tonks pouted for a moment, but in truth shewas having quite a bit of fun, too. She turned towards Harry as much as she could and kissed Harry back. It was messy and fun, and Tonks considered moving over to a little couch in the corner. Instead, she reached up and tangled her hand in his hair.

"We'll come back later, shall we?" Tonks looked up to see Jen and Simon standing in the doorway. Embarrassed, she tried to get up, but Harry's arm around her stomach kept her where she was.

"Nah, it's okay," he said. "Pull up a chair." He picked his wand up off the desk and drew two chairs in midair, both of which fell to the floor with very real clunks.

"That's a handy charm," Commented Jen after she had sat down cautiously in one of the chairs. Simon sat down in the other one.

"Thanks. Dumbledore taught me. So what's up?"

"Well, we're on our way into work, and Patil wants to know when Tonks will be back in." Jen looked at Tonks, concerned. "You can ignore her, if you want. I'll tell her you threw up on me and I took that to mean not for a while."

Tonks laughed. "Tell her I'll be in tomorrow to finish up my overdue paperwork, but nothing physical."

"Fair enough," said Simon before Jen could open her mouth. "But where are you going to be staying? You can't go back to Diagon Alley, Tonks, I don't care what you say. You don't know what Jon'll do…I know you didn't think he'd hurt you, but he did, didn't he?" His speech over, Simon leaned back in his chair. Harry stared. He'd never heard Simon say so much at one time. Tonks just made a face.

"Why don't you stay with your parents for a while?" Suggested Jen helpfully. "Or rent a room at the Leaky Cauldron?"

"The Leaky Cauldron has rats, and I am _not_ moving in with my parents for any amount of time. Mom'd never let me leave. Besides, I still have another six months in my contract for that apartment."

Everyone glared at each other for a few moments. Harry watched them, amused, and then gave his own input. "You could stay here for a bit, you know. There's plenty of space."

Tonks opened her mouth, then closed it again, and finally asked Harry if he was sure he wouldn't mind. He shook his head, chuckling.

"Then it's settled! Tonks, I'll pick up some of your clothes and stuff after work. C'mon, Simon." And with that, the pair dissaparated. Tonks stared at the place where they had been.

"You know, Jen reminds me of Mrs. Weasley sometimes," she commented. Harry laughed, and they were both quiet for a moment.

"They work with you?They're full-fledged Aurors?" Tonks nodded. Harry frowned. "But they can't be more than seventeen." Tonks just nodded again. Harry waited for her to explain.

"Their parents were all Aurors." She felt Harry shift uncomfortably at the word 'were' as if he knew what the rest of the story would be from just that sentence. "Good ones, too.All threedied in the final battle with Voldemort...Simon probably still has a dad somewhere, but no one has seenthe bastardsince Simon was three." She paused. Harry wished she wouldn't. He'd written letters to the families of all the Aurors who had died in that battle, of course, but had purposely not remembered their names…he shook the thoughts out of his head. Tonks was continuing. "…Dumbledore let them stay at the school for a while. They're the only orphans, you'll be happy to know. After only a day or two together, they were inseparable, even though they hadn't known each other beforehand. I read somewhere that you get more attached to someone you go through a really emotional experience with in a few hours than you do to someone you've known under normal circumstances for years…I guess it's right. Anyway, as soon as they were old enough, which was only a couple months ago, they got an apartment together and applied for jobs as Aurors. Shacklebolt made sure they got the jobs, of course." She sighed. "They're excellent. Jen's one of our best Healers, and Simon is the best undercover agent I've seen in years."

Harry just stared blankly at a stain on her bathrobe. "I wish I hadn't asked," he said finally. Tonks leaned against him, putting her head on his shoulder. He hugged her.

"It's not your fault, Harry. Simon and Jen don't blame you – and if they don't, you shouldn't either." Harry didn't say anything for a while, preferring to stare into space and play with the hair at the nape of her neck absently.

Finally, he stood up, set Tonks on her feet, and kissed her on the forehead. "I have to go. Dobby's around if you need anything." Halfway to the door, he paused and looked back at Tonks. "Do you want to go to a concert tonight?"

Tonks nodded, relieved that he didn't seem too upset. "Who's playing?"

"The Blasting Wands. Ron managed to get a few tickets, god knows how. So of course he'll be there too…and Hermione."

Tonks looked up, curious. "Double date?"

"Yeah." He grinned in spite of himself. "I never thought they'd actually get together."

"Neither did I." Tonks smiled.

Harry glanced at his watch. "Shit, I've got to get going. I'll meet you here at seven, okay?" Without waiting for an answer, he Disapparated.

Tonks shook her head, smiling, and set off in search of Dobby and her clothes.

_Ugh…I can't move my legs…you'd never know Quidditch is played on brooms, from all the leg exercises my trainer, Digo, has me doing. I think he enjoys seeing me in pain. Either that or he was punishing me for being late again._

_Still, I have a good night to look forward to. Not only am I going to a Blasting Wands concert, but I'm going with Tonks, Ron, and Hermione – _and _it's a double date! Apparently Hermione realized that she was going to die alone if she kept waiting for Ron to work up the nerve to ask her out, so she threatened to run off with her supervisor if Ron didn't take her out to dinner. Very Hermione._


	9. chap 9

A/N: Woot! Look how soon I put up this update! Okay, maybe it wasn't really that fast, but it was by standards...Rancid lyrics to the songs 'Time Bomb' and 'Ruby Soho' are copyright to them. (Is Ruby Soho originally by them?) Blasting Wands lyrics to the song 'Beige' are copyright to me, and if you steal them I _will _sue you, because I'm hoping to actually make some money off my lyric writing.

Not a whole lot of plot development here, sorry…I just thought it was high time they went to a good concert. Actually I think it's high time _I _went to a good concert, but, alas, I'll just have to live through my characters.

* * *

Harry stood quietly in the dark, leaning against a large crate. From his baggy black clothes and the fact that he was loitering outside a London warehouse, many would think he was some sort of hoodlum. But those with any sort of a nightlife in the city would know what was really going on…warehouse party! 

He grinned as he saw Tonks walk by and totally miss him in the darkness. Although her hair color had changed again, she had the same heart-shaped face as when they'd first met. She was wearing black jeans that were so ripped up he was pretty sure she was holding them together by magic, electric blue fishnets under them, and a short black tank top with a picture of a pixie on it. Harry walked up behind her quietly, put his arms around her, and kissed her neck.

"What the fuck!" Tonks pulled away and whirled around to face him, then sighed and put her wand back in her pocket when she saw that it was just Harry. "Jesus Christ, Harry, do you _want _me to blast your kneecap off?"

"Not really."

"Then don't sneak up on me like that!"

"I'm sorry. I won't. Now do I get a real hello?"

"No! You said you would meet me at Grimmauld Place at seven. So there I am, all punked out," she gestured at her outfit, "and Dobby comes up and tells me you'd meet me here at _ten_. What's the deal? Couldn't you at least have told me yourself?"

"I had thought we'd go out and have some dinner first…but something came up. I'm sorry, Tonks." He was looking at the ground, and did seem truly sorry. Tonks sighed.

"It's alright." She took a step closer and kissed him softly on the lips. "Hello. So what was it?"

"What was what?"

"What came up that was so important you had to postpone seeing a beautiful girl like me?"

"Oh." He frowned. "I...well…Vince had a little emergency, and I had to go help him out, but he found some very interesting information. We'll talk about it later, okay?"

Tonks frowned, suspicious, but shrugged it off. "Fine." She glanced around, noticing that the place seemed pretty empty. "Hey, where is everyone?"

"We're a little early…I wanted to meet before the concert so we didn't miss Ron and Hermione. Hey, speak of the devils!" Harry waved energetically at a couple of dark shapes on the other side of the street. They turned and walked towards the warehouse, calling out greetings.

Tonks grinned when she saw them. Ron and Hermione looked so comfortable and perfect with each other, it was hard to believe it had taken them so long to get together. She had to remind herself that they had probably only been on one or two dates. Raising an eyebrow at Ron's possessive arm around Hermione's waist, she thought he would do well to be reminded of it too.

"C'mon, let's go," Said Harry, interrupting her thoughts. He grabbed her hand and led her over to a small door in the side of the building. A few other people had gone in just before they got there, and a small crowd was forming behind them.

"Looks like the party's started," Tonks commented, grinning.

Each of the guys flashed two tickets, and the group was waved through into a large room illuminated with dancing lights that looked somewhat like neon fairies and glowing clouds near the ceiling. A large stage was set up in the middle, and a band was playing a song that seemed upbeat until Tonks listened to the lyrics. Harry was leading her closer to the stage, where some people were moshing and some were actually dancing. She grinned.

"Who's playing?" She yelled to Harry as they started to dance.

"_Black coat white shoes black hat Cadillac…the boy's a time bomb!"_ The guitarist was jumping up and down energetically, and seemed to be backlit no matter where she looked at him from.

"Rancid! They're big with Muggles. They're trying to get some wizard fans, so Blasting Wands lets them open their shows…"

"_In tears from the razor that's been tattooed below his eye his mother cries she knows that he is strong enough to die…"_

Harry was avery good dancer,which wasn't too surprising considering how much time he spent at Leviose.Tonks egged him on, getting closer and closer to him as the band started up a new song. Finally he put his hands on her hips and pulled her in the rest of the way, mumbling something about stupid girls and how he really had intended to listen to the music. Tonks laughed.

"Yeah, I can feel your annoyance on my thigh."

Harry grinned and bent his head down to kiss her neck again. Tonks decided that must have some sort of neck obsession.

"_Destination unknown ruby ruby ruby ruby soho…he's singin' and she's there to lend a hand…he's seen his name on the marquee but she will never understand…"_

Tonks liked the band, and wondered vaguely where she could buy some of their music. Over Harry's shoulder – although they were still dancing, he hadn't taken his mouth away from her neck, and she realized he was probably going to leave a mark – Tonks saw Hermione glancing at them with a mixture of amusement and disapproval. Tonks winked. After all, Hermione and Ron weren't exactly being strangers to each other either.

When the song ended and was not immediately followed by another, Tonks looked up. Amid cheers and claps, the top of the stage was slowly descending, taking the band with it. Soon they had completely disappeared into the floor, leaving just the sides of the stage. For a moment, the room was quiet – or as quiet as a room full of excited music fans can be. Then cheers started to break out near the back of the room.

Harry pointed at the back wall. "Look."

Annie Joette, the Blasting Wands' lead singer and main guitarist, was standing on the back wall, her green hair and matching guitar hanging down towards the floor. She pulled it up and played what Tonks assumed were the opening chords to a song she had never heard before. Annie jumped, and seemed to float away from the wall, before flipping in the air and landing on the wall again. Finally she crouched down and made an enormous leap, sending her flying over the heads of the crowd towards the still topless stage. She landed lightly on a circle of light that appeared a split second before she touched down, and began to sing into an invisible microphone as the bassist made a similar entrance and the drummer and his entire drum set descended slowly from the ceiling.

"_Collars buttoned up hats pulled down, we'll be the unknowns about town…pointless fun in an uptight home, fogeys don't like us young'uns to roam…"_

Harry nudged her, grinning, as the rhythm guitarist materialized in the beam of a red spotlight on the stage and the keyboardist materialized in a blue one. "Pretty cool effects, yeah?"

"Definitely!" Tonks grabbed his arm and pulled him through the crowds and closer to the stage, trying to remember the last time she'd been in a good mosh pit.

"_Paint the town beige, baby, we'll paint the town beige, pull pranks on old money and they think it's rage…yesterday I tried to help an old man, tried carrying the bags…"_

The guitarists and bassist jumped ontothree of the glowing clouds that had descended from the ceiling, and were soon floating over the crowds, still playing and singing. Some creatures that looked a bit like tall veela with pointed ears appeared on the stage with thekeyboardist and drummer and began to dance. Tonks turned to Harry to make sure they didn't have the same effect on him as veela would, and found him fighting off a teenybopper in an artfully ripped Puddlemere United shirt.

"Back off, bitch," she said just loud enough to be heard over the music. The girl paused and looked at her with a smirk that swiftly changed to a look of surprise as she was hit with one of Tonks' famous Pumpkin-Innards hexes. Harry looked at the slimy, twitching, orange mound on the floor and shook his head, chuckling.

"I should fire Vince and just keep you around," he commented. Tonks made a face.

"Does that happen often?"

"Yes. It was a lot of fun the first fifteen thousand times. Now it's getting old."

Tonks laughed, both relieved that he didn't enjoy random girls attacking him and slightly uneasy that he even had the opportunity to enjoy being attacked by random girls.

"Where is Vince, anyway?"

"_Aurors got a bug in my friend's house… he moved out, that's him on the couch…but you gotta wonder what they'd say…if they'd make him run or just make him pay…"_

"Back at Grimmauld. He doesn't have a ticket. He's more into Frank Sinatra anyway."

"Who?" Tonks frowned, confused. Vince would rather be spending time with this Sinatra guy than with Harry? Even though Harry was paying him?

Harry laughed. "Never mind." He looked up. The song was ending, and the band began to play their latest hit, 'Polyjuice'. "I love this one. C'mon, Tonks!" He grabbed her arm and started moving towards the stage, elbowing moshers out of the way aggressively. Tonks laughed and followed, content to ignore teenyboppers and Frank Sinatra.

* * *

_Ah…I've had a good night. I went to see the Blasting Wands with Tonks, Ron and Hermione, and afterwards we got Chinese takeout and ate it in a park. And Tonks is asleep downstairs. Bit annoying that she isn't asleep up here, but I guess that'll have to wait. We definitely have something going though. She nearly slaughtered a Puddlemere fangirl at the concert. True love, that._

_On a more serious note…Vince finally got a lead on Lenning, and got his arm broken in three places along the way. Dobby fixed him up pretty well though. He's already scolding me for going to a dark, crowded place without him. Somehow I don't think a Blasting Wands concert is as dangerous as he makes it out to be._

_I should get some sleep. Quidditch semifinals are in two weeks, and so we've got nonstop training and workouts the entire time. Ugh. The games themselves should be interesting though. If the Cannons beat the Wasps, which I doubt, they'll have a chance for the Cup for the first time since 1943. Ron is ecstatic, of course. _


	10. chap 10

A/N: Second chapter in as many days, ain't spring break grand? Tons of plot development here – it's all a bit sudden, really, so maybe I'll put in some more filler before I post this. ...Nah, it's already one of the biggest chapters I've done. Enjoy. Oh, and I apologize in advance for the use of at least one double question mark. I'm sure the English language will tear me to bits when she finds out. But it really does convey the tone I want.

Oh, and I just checked out my stats, and found out I'm being watched by** 42** people, which just amazes me. So, thanks to all you guys! And please review!

* * *

_Semifinals are now exactly a week away… we're playing against the Appleby Arrows for a place at the Quidditch World Cup. (Jenny and Perna offered to spend an entire week with me _and _Tonks if I win the Cup. I wonder how Tonks would feel about that?) I'm ready. I've never felt better. I'm not sure if that's because the team has trained twelve hours a day for the last week or because Tonks and I have been going out together every night - although Wood and Fife are pissed that I've been seeing her at all, so close to 'career-making' games. I'm just glad the tabloids haven't said anything. _

_Unfortunately, Tonks won't be able to make it to the game. (Dammit dammit dammit.) She's got work. She'll be there for the after-game party, though._

_We still haven't talked about what Vince found out about Lenning…of course, she doesn't know he found anything out, and I'm afraid of what she'll say when she hears I sent Vince after her ex…and, of course, when she hears what he found out. But we have to talk about it, I guess.

* * *

_

Tonks was sprawled on the floor playing Soul Calibur II when Harry walked into the living room. He sat down next to her and picked up an extra controller. "And to think just two weeks ago you had no idea what a Gamecube was. Mind if I join in?"

Tonks shook her head, quit the fight she was in and went to the character selection scene as Harry got settled. "Wotcher, Harry. Are we going anywhere tonight?"

"I'd like to, but I'm on strict orders from my team captain to stay home eating lots of carbs and sleeping, since I'm doing snitch overload practices all day tomorrow." He grimaced.

They started the battle, Tonks playing Link and Harry playing Necrid. Dobby came in for a moment to drop off a plate of rolls, crackers, and other carbo-loaded food, but other than that and the sounds of the game, they were surprisingly quiet. After they had finished the battle, Tonks put down her controller and looked up at Harry worriedly. "Are you okay?"

Harry raised his eyebrows. "Why?"

"I beat you into the ground, and you didn't even threaten to hex me."

"Oh." Harry chuckled, but quickly got serious again. "Tonks, we need to talk."

She instantly sat up, looking worried. "You're not kicking me out, are you? I can start paying for my own groceries if you want, I know I eat a lot, I'm sorry, I – I mean, I can still go back to Diagon Alley, I have the apartment for a couple more months, but-"

"Tonks. I'm not kicking you out. I wouldn't dream of it."

"Oh. Good." She looked infinitely relieved. "Then what's the problem?"

"I…" Harry wasn't really sure where to begin. He'd rehearsed the beginning of this conversation over and over in his head, but somehow now he had no idea what to say. 'I sent a trained killer after your ex' didn't seem to be a good opening line. "Tonks, what do you know about Jon?"

She frowned. "Jon Lenning? Not a lot. I mean, I know his personality pretty well, but his past or whatever…" She shrugged. "Nada. Why?"

"You remember when we went to the Blasting Wands concert and I said Vince had just had a little emergency?" She nodded. "Well, he was following up a lead about Jon when it happened."

Tonks raised an eyebrow. "Jon attacked him? I'm not surprised. What was Vince doing looking for Jon anyway though?"

"No, it was…well, okay, let me start from the beginning. When I went over to your apartment to change the locks, and Jen said Jon had been going through your mail…what can I say? I got suspicious and overprotective. I sent Vince to the Ministry to see if they had a file on Jon." Tonks frowned. "I swear I didn't intend to do anything else! But they _did _have a file on him, and it was completely empty." He paused to let this sink in. The Ministry only started files on people who had broken the law, so there was always at least one thing in them. If it was empty, it meant that someone with high clearance in the Ministry (or an Auror) had to have emptied it.

Tonks, though, didn't seem surprised. She just nodded. "I know. I emptied it myself."

"What? Why on earth did you do that?"

"He was applying for a job with a company that handles highly dangerous materials. They do a background check, and he was afraid that he wouldn't get the job if they found out he had a criminal record. So he asked me to delete it. It wasn't a big deal."

Harry stared at her in total disbelief for a moment. "Not a big…did you _look in it_?"

"No…he said he'd done some shoplifting when he was younger, and had been sued for assault once. When I got a hold of the file, it _was _pretty thin, and I didn't have any reason not to believe him. I mean, you know about Jon, does it seem out of character for him to steal or assault people?" She was starting to look annoyed. Harry shook his head, still not believing she would just throw out such an important document without bothering to look at it. "Harry, is there any point to this other than to exhibit your paranoia?"

"Yes, hear me out." He ran a hand over his face. "An empty file is pretty unusual, so Vince went to the Court Records department to see what he could find out. There were only two convictions on record for Jon…but it said that they were his seventh and thirteenth. I don't suppose you deleted the rest of them?"

Tonks shook her head. This last revelation had her looking very worried. "Why would they leave those two?"

"They couldn't be deleted from the records. _No one_ has clearance to erase them. Not even the Minister."

"Wha…?" It took Tonks a moment to digest this. Then a look of absolute horror swept across her face. "They were…Unforgettables?" Harry nodded.

Suddenly Tonks got up and bolted for the closest bathroom. Harry covered his face with a hand, sighing, and wasn't at all surprised when the sound of her vomiting drifted down the hall.

* * *

_Well, Tonks took that about as well as can be expected. I'd throw up, too, if I found out someone I thought I knew had committed crimes so bad it was impossible for them to be erased from the court records. She still doesn't know what he did, but I can't imagine knowing would really ease her mind, seeing as the Unforgettables are rape, murder, and torture._

_I don't know what to tell her. I mean, tell her the truth, tell her the rest of the story. But that's not going to help.

* * *

_

Harry went into a swift dive, reaching out to grab a snitch that was in front of him as he did so. It dissolved as soon as he touched it. On the way down, he caught two more, both of which performed similar disappearing acts. Darting to the side, he snagged another, and paused, trying to spot the last one. Within a few seconds he had caught it, and glanced down, waiting to hear the results.

"Well done, Harry! That's the fastest one today!" Called Digo, standing next to a large chest full of captured snitches. He slipped his stopwatch into his pocket and gestured for Harry to come down. "Time for a lunch break. Be back here in forty-five minutes. Oh, and there's someone to see you in the cafeteria."

Harry thanked his trainer and put his broom onto one of the many racks on the wall of the ultra-modern Puddlemere training facility. Walking down the hall, he wondered vaguely who would come to see him. There weren't a whole lot of people allowed in on days when the team was training – to 'protect trade secrets' like the practice Harry had just done, Captain Fife always said. Although Harry thought this was a bit overkill, he could understand it. Snitch overloads did help him a lot, and, as far as he knew, Puddlemere was the only team that did them.

He entered the cafeteria, grabbed a protein shake, and headed over to the only table that had anyone sitting at it. When he saw who it was, he smiled.

"Back off, guys, she's taken," called Harry to the Quidditch players who were attempting to flirt with Tonks. "Hey, Kirk, you're married. Don't make me send your wife an owl."

"We were just talking," said Kirk innocently, and the guys behind him chuckled. He nodded at Tonks, smiling. "It's wonderful to have finally met the legendary Nymphadora Tonks. See you, Harry." The group walked off, chatting and laughing. Harry sat down across from Tonks.

"Legendary?" She asked, eyebrow raised.

"They exaggerate. Unless, of course, you _want _to be legendary," he added. She chuckled, and they were quiet for a moment. Harry searched her eyes. "You doing alright?"

Tonks looked down. Since Harry got up so early to go to practice, he and Tonks hadn't spoken since their conversation the night before. Harry had felt been both relieved and slightly uneasy when she didn't come back. She needed to hear the rest of it, but he wasn't sure Tonks would want to talk to about _anything_ after that.

"No," she answered calmly. "I'm about to have a nervous breakdown." Harry nodded, silenced by her honesty, and waited for her to continue. "What did he do?"

"…Are you sure this is the where you want to find out?" Tonks nodded. "The seventh was for use of the Cruciatus curse on Mark Trombino. We've tried to find him, but apparently he disappeared a few months later." Tonks nodded again, looking pale but otherwise alright. "The thirteenth was for the murder of Russell Carter." They sat in silence for a moment.

"Who were they?" She asked finally.

"No idea. The files didn't say anything about the cases except for the bare minimum." Tonks was staring down at the table blankly. "Look, Tonks, there's more. I can't imagine how you feel right now, and I want you to know that I'm here for you, but you need to hear the rest of Vince's information as soon as you're ready."

She nodded, stood up, and kissed him on the forehead. "Not now. Thank you, Harry."

He watched her leave, glad that she seemed to be taking it well – despite her own admission that she was on the verge of a breakdown. It had to help that she knew Jon hadn't had sex with anyone against their will, especially since they had apparently been rather devoted to each other. Still, torture and murder were, if anything, worse.

Harry shook the morbid thoughts out of his head, guzzled his protein shake, and made his way back to the Seeker's room, nursing a brainfreeze.

* * *

A/N: Are you guys remembering the names of people I've only mentioned a few times? Like did you remember that Fife was the team captain, and Digo was Harry's trainer? I'm never sure whether I need to restate who they are, so some feedback would be appreciated.


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